I had a wonderful question asked of me the other day. It started with an acknowledgement of what I said in a sermon about our ability and the necessity to love others, especially those we don't like. Does that mean I have to love (insert the name of your least favorite political figure)?
Let's put Jesus' teaching and New Testament teaching into perspective. The Lord tells us to pray for our enemies and love those who hate us. Some of the epistles remind us to pray for the emperor and obey, as far as possible, the secular authority. Putting these teachings into the context of the biblical times and comparing the teachings to our modern times can really show us how shallow our obedience to God may be.
What do I mean? Well, it was imperial secular power which orders the death of Jesus. And it was imperial power that fueled the persecution of the early church that sent disciples of Jesus to the lions, to burning stakes, the sword, crucifixion, flogging, stoning, you name it. Christians have been and still are killed because they professed faith in Jesus Christ. At the same time Jesus' teaching and that of the New Testament commands obedience to secular authority when it does not conflict with God's law.
Christians are still being killed by oppressive secular authorities and are commanded to pray for them. And we wonder if we should "love" our political enemies in this country. What do you think?
Can you make an argument that your political adversaries are as hostile to our faith and to the church as Pilate, or Tiberius, or Diocletian, or Nero, or Stalin, or Pol pot? It's not likely. In any case the commandment from Jesus and subsequent scripture was to pray for these people. If you don't like or agree with that person...prayer that God will enlighten his or her heart, but pray for them. You will become more like Christ when you do this.
The point here is that as believers, we want for everyone to come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. If we are too busy defending our political positions against our political opponents then haven't we set politics up as our idol?
This has ramifications for praying for world leaders in church on Sundays. When there will be a political change of mayor, or governor, or president will that change affect your worship? When we change the names in the prayers of the people will you be upset that we pray for the other candidate? If it does affect your ability to worship then I encourage you to start praying for that person now. This is Jesus' command, "Pray for your enemies."
Blessings,
Fr. Stephen+
